Saturday, October 31, 2009

Survivalists tend to focus on coping without access to the luxuries of the current era. An aspect that is often neglected is that, whether it is due to global warming, cosmic rays, volcanic eruptions or a pole shift, you could find yourself suddenly in a new climate.

Consequently the crops of today might not prosper. A smart survivalist will make preparations for local climate change, and be ready to deploy crops that suit the new environment. Given that nobody knows if or how drastically the climate might change, this would require storing the seeds of a wide variety of crops.

Over in Peru there is a currently an initiative that is attempting to ensure, no matter what the climate, we will always have potatoes:

The Peruvian farmers will be paid to look after the most diverse collection of potatoes in the world. They will try growing varieties at different altitudes and in different climatic conditions so that if today's commercially available potato varieties start to fail anywhere in the world, replacement varieties will be ready and waiting.